


Derivative Materials

by lea_hazel



Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: Collection: Purimgifts Day 1, Community: trope_bingo, Emotional Manipulation, Gen, Kid Fic, Phone Calls & Telephones, Single Parents, Spoilers for s01e10 - Endless Forms Most Beautiful, Trope Bingo Round 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-02
Updated: 2014-03-02
Packaged: 2018-01-13 04:25:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1212583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lea_hazel/pseuds/lea_hazel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rachel was starting to get tired of this dance. She calls, Sarah pretends not to hear her, she hangs up and calls back again immediately.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Derivative Materials

**Author's Note:**

  * For [darthjamtart](https://archiveofourown.org/users/darthjamtart/gifts).



The phone rang seemingly forever. It didn't matter; sooner or later Sarah was bound to pick up. She always did. Rachel was starting to get tired of this dance. She calls, Sarah pretends not to hear her, she hangs up and calls back again immediately. Sarah picks up and shouts at her. It was wearying, but Rachel is nothing if not patient. Eight rings, nine rings, ten. Finally she heard the tell-tale click followed by the sound of soft breathing.

"Hello, Sarah."

"Just spit it out, will you? Whatever it is you're going to say."

"I know you're concerned for your family, Sarah," said Rachel. "I wanted to call and let you know that Kira is doing well. Her injuries from the car accident have healed completely. We're taking very good care of her."

" _I_ was taking care of her!" said Sarah, her voice rising.

Rachel tsked. "Like you took care of her the night of the accident? You let Helena just walk away with her, and look how it turned out. If she wasn't such a strong little girl, she probably would have died that night."

"So you're saying you kidnapped Kira because I'm an unfit mother?" said Sarah with a snort. "Try telling that to the police. Everything you're doing is illegal, you know. When your little operation gets exposed, do you think Leekie will bail you out? Or will he let you rot in prison to save himself?"

"I see," said Rachel. "You intend to involve the police, do you? I suppose your extensive rap sheet won't prove to be an obstacle in this endeavor. Will your good friend Detective Bell vouch for you?"

"She's _my_ daughter! You can't keep her from me!"

"Now, then," said Rachel, "no need to lose your temper. I've only just put Kira down for her nap. She had a very busy day today. We went to the park and to the science museum, and then after lunch she drew me a picture. I'll fax it to you, if you like. You should have a copy."

There was a long silence on the other end of the line.

Rachel waited. Patient.

"I'm not gonna argue with you. Give me back my daughter."

"Certainly," said Rachel. "Just as soon as you sign the contract and return our intellectual property to us."

"Fuck you!"

Rachel moved the phone away from her ear to lessen the screaming.

"You fucking sell-out professional clone! You're a hypocrite! How can you turn on us like this when you're exactly like us?"

Gradually, she brought the phone closer. "I understand that you're angry," she said.

"You're damned right I'm angry!"

"Sarah," said Rachel. "Please, calm down. I can't talk to you when you're like this."

On the other side of the line, Sarah's voice was devolving from virulent ranting to an asyntactic stream of swear words followed by a sharp click. Rachel imagined her slamming the receiver down, maybe with such force that the telephone skidded right off the table. Normally, Sarah didn't hang up on her. She liked to have the last word, or at least try to. Maybe she would come around, and this whole ugly matter could be resolved sooner rather than later. As long as she could argue, debate, justify, she would remain adversarial. If the devastation of being separated from Kira got to her, there were good odds that she would do something rash and impulsive, something that Dyad and Dr. Leekie – and Rachel herself – could use to good advantage.

Rachel didn't set down the receiver. Instead, she dialed a different number.

"Dyad Institute, Department of Developmental Biopsychology. How may I help you?"

"Yes, this is Rachel Duncan, I'm calling from the Dep–"

"Ms. Duncan, of course!" the receptionist interrupted her enthusiastically. "I'll patch you right through."

"No need," said Rachel. "I'm just calling to check in on the scheduling for one of the patients. Kira Manning?"

"Let me check that for you, Ms. Duncan."

Rachel drummed her fingers on the desk while the receptionist chatted solicitously.

"Ah, I've got it!"

"Excellent!" said Rachel, perhaps a bit more sharply than she'd intended. "Find me an opening for an appointment this week, preferably in the late morning hours but before lunch."

There was a short silence on the other side before the receptionist spoke again. "I'm sorry, Ms. Duncan. There simply aren't any openings in her testing schedule."

Rachel paused briefly to compose her reply. "No morning openings, or not openings this week?"

"No openings at all, I'm afraid."

"What about next week?"

Again there was a short silence. "I'm sorry, Ms. Duncan, I should have been clearer. There are no openings at all."

Rachel tapped the desk with one fingernail. "Patch me through to the head of the department."

"I'm afraid I can't do that Ms. Duncan."

"Your superiors will hear about this!" she hissed into the receiver. "Don't think this will slide by on your next performance evaluation!"

"I'm afraid I can't help you, ma'am."

Before Rachel could respond to this, she heard the tell-tale click from the other side of the line.  

[ ](http://imgur.com/oIT6ODH)


End file.
